Recycling works - with incentives

Every household in Singapore will be part of a national recycling effort, starting with those in Jurong next month. DEBBIE GOH and PAULA McCOY look at recycling programmes already in place in Singapore to find out if they really work.

By Debbie Goh and Paula McCoy

WHEN a recycling programme first started in the north-east corner of Singapore last year, only 14 per cent of the residents got involved.

The poor initial response was despite there being a convenient recycling programme set up by the CDC and Transnational Recycling Industries, the company behind the collection and sorting.

Residents had to place newspapers, clothes, aluminium or tin cans and old electrical appliances for recycling, in a bag for collection at their doorstep.

 

-- AZIZ HUSSIN	-- WONG KWAI CHOW
	Trash is taken by a lorry to a recycling plant at Pioneer Sector, where it is given a "new life" (above). New recycling bins (left) awaiting distribution to Jurong residences.

But after a year's effort in educating residents - through talks and posters - the response rate climbed.

It helped that a portion of the money collected from the recycled items went back to funding community activities, such as block parties.

Ms Teo said: 'We tried to sell them the green message, but experience showed that the idea didn't sink in.

'The residents wanted to see something in return for their efforts, so we made it such that the funds went back to the community.'

Today, 40 per cent of the 150,000 households are actively recycling.

Transnational is also carrying out recycling projects in other parts of Singapore.

And in its two years selling recycled items it collected from the Tanjong Pagar CDC, the company has raised over $200,000 for the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD).

The items collected are sorted manually by workers from SPD and Bizlink Centre, a placement agency for the disabled.

Transnational's project-development manager Cheah Pin Thong said: 'Knowing that recycling raised funds and gave jobs to the less able, motivated people to participate in the programme.'

The success of recycling, however, does not depend only on active participation by residents but, also, on there being a market for the recycled items.

Previous recycling projects started here had failed, when items collected for recycling could not be sold, and ended up as garbage to be incinerated.

There is, however, a demand now.

Only 1.5 per cent of what Transnational collects is now discarded. These are usually soiled paper, organic waste and plastics, said Mr Cheah.

Old newspapers, books and magazines, tin and aluminium cans, toys and clothing are sold to scrap dealers, paper mills or exported to Third World countries for reuse.

The company now collects 35 tonnes of recyclables daily from over 200,000 households, compared to 11 tonnes from 70,000 households two years ago.

Singapore produced 7,600 tonnes of solid waste last year, of which 40 per cent, mostly industrial waste, is recycled. The industrial sector recycles diligently because they are charged according to the amount of waste they dispose.

In the domestic sector, however, residents pay a flat rate, regardless of how much they throw out.

HDB households currently pay about $8 and landed homes about $25 each month for refuse collection.

Refuse-collection company Colex Holdings' general manager, Mr Desmond Chan, said: 'Singaporeans have not picked up the habit of recycling because refuse service charges are too low for them to have any incentive to recycle. They will just let the garbage company collect whatever waste they generate.

'There is also no legislation for the citizens to comply with the recycling activities and there are no subsidies for companies that want to set up recycling centres.'

Another reason why recycling here has not really taken off in the past, said Dr Ooi Giok Ling, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, is because education has not been consistent.

One of her areas of research is environmental issues. She said: 'Recycling has, unfortunately, been promoted like flavours of the month.

'The sponsoring agencies usually drive the campaign for a specific period and then this peters off. There is no concerted, long-term effort at all to sustain the message being communicated to households.'

The new recycling effort by the Environment Ministry (ENV), which requires waste contractors to introduce a waste-recycling scheme to every household, could be the key to more Singaporeans turning green.

It comes into effect next month.

Said Dr Ooi: 'Many Singaporeans will bother to recycle if there are efforts by town councils or other authorities, including ENV, to make recycling more convenient. The programme has to provide for an island-wide collection system.

'What has frustrated recycling for people, myself included, is the need to put together enough items to make it worthwhile to drive to the few collection points that I know of.

'You can imagine how difficult it is for those who do not know where to go or whom to ask about recycling.'

Stepping up its education programme and making recycling convenient for residents has worked for North-east CDC.

The CDC is now looking at more incentives to increase participation among residents.

Ms Teo said that the CDC has begun working with schools to generate awareness among the young.

She added: 'We have to motivate students from young and the Care and Recycle programme gets schools to teach children about being green. We could also give rebates or waivers on conservancy charges to increase the level of consciousness for recycling. These are suggestions that can be considered.'